Social media influencers are prominent figures. They dominate the online world and social apps we use daily to become household names.
Social media platforms have elevated individuals around the world to reach an audience of millions, with YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) all boasting users in the tens of millions – and in some cases, even hundreds of millions.
But every platform is different, with its own style of content and recognizable top influencers. This can make it difficult to tell who the most influential people on social media are, rather than the most popular on one platform.
We’ve looked at social media influencers across the most popular social media platforms.
By combining the total number of followers and subscribers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter) for each individual, we created a leaderboard of the top 30 social media influencers worldwide.
What Is A Social Media Influencer?
A social media influencer, usually referred to as simply an influencer, can be any individual with a significant follower count.
They typically have established credibility within a certain niche and use that authority to connect with people via social media.
However, what’s considered large is relative. Mention reports that 26.4% of Instagram accounts have less than 1,000 followers, while almost half have between 1,000 and 10,000.
Although 10,000 may sound like a lot, it is overshadowed by the top social media influencer’s 622 million Instagram followers.
Types Of Social Media Influencers (By Follower Count)
Nano Influencer (1,000 to 10,000)
With a modest following, nano influencers typically have more trusting relationships with followers and are great for hyper-targeted campaigns.
Micro Influencer (10,000 to 100,000)
Popular within a specific niche, micro influencers remain relatable and maintain high engagement rates with their target audience while getting more attention.
Macro Influencer (100,000 to 1,000,000 followers)
Macro influencers possess broad appeal which can originally stem from a niche. Their large audience is established over a long time at the expense of lower engagement rates.
Celebrity influencer (1,000,000+ followers)
These are well-known names in an industry with huge global audiences, making them great options for brand awareness campaigns but will likely cost a lot to work with.
Which Social Media Platform Has The Biggest Audience For Influencers?
Social media influencers realistically want to reach the largest audience possible. The more people that see their content, the bigger their influence will be.
That’s why choosing the right social media platform can have an impact on how much you can grow as an influencer.
Monthly Active Users (MAUs) For Each Social Media Platform
- YouTube: 2.5 billion active users.
- Instagram: 2 billion active users.
- TikTok: 1.2 billion active users.
- X: 541 million.
(Source)
Despite having fewer active users, Instagram is now considered to be the most popular platform with TikTok gaining year-on-year.
Each platform has its benefits for different types of social media influencers, depending on the type of social content they create:
- YouTube – Primarily long-form video, secondary short-form video, and live streaming.
- Instagram – Primarily still image, secondary video and live streaming.
- TikTok – Primarily short-form video, secondary live streaming.
- X – Primarily text, secondary still image and video.
As social media platforms have grown, they’ve developed their main features alongside secondary functions to compete with each other.
This has made it easier for influencers to cross-post and repurpose the same content between different platforms, helping to cross-pollinate audiences and grow multiple followings. For example, users frequently see videos from TikTok appearing on Instagram Reels and vice versa.
Doing this helps social media influencers grow their audiences and boost their influence, which can make them more appealing partners for brands and marketers to work with.
The Top 30 Social Media Influencers Worldwide
|
|
Instagram |
X (Twitter) |
TikTok |
YouTube |
Total |
Category |
| 1 |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
622,164,640 |
110,569,623 |
n/a |
n/a |
732,734,263 |
Sport |
| 2 |
Selena Gomez |
429,805,012 |
66,446,790 |
59,000,000 |
34,500,000 |
589,751,802 |
Music |
| 3 |
Ariana Grande |
380,308,915 |
85,268,269 |
34,200,000 |
53,500,000 |
553,277,184 |
Music |
| 4 |
Kylie Jenner |
400,477,343 |
40,044,424 |
54,900,000 |
12,100,000 |
507,521,767 |
Influencer |
| 5 |
Justin Bieber |
293,090,942 |
111,264,898 |
27,300,000 |
72,600,000 |
504,255,840 |
Music |
| 6 |
Leo Messi |
499,705,843 |
N/A |
N/A |
2,110,000 |
501,815,843 |
Sport |
| 7 |
Dwayne Johnson |
397,240,518 |
17,100,000 |
74,200,000 |
6,360,000 |
494,900,518 |
Entertainment |
| 8 |
Taylor Swift |
281,714,581 |
95,295,063 |
24,900,000 |
56,500,000 |
458,409,644 |
Music |
| 9 |
Kim Kardashian |
364,318,648 |
75,194,423 |
9,600,000 |
2,000,000 |
451,113,071 |
Influencer |
| 10 |
MrBeast |
50,400,000 |
28,700,000 |
93,300,000 |
240,000,000 |
412,400,000 |
Content Creator |
| 11 |
Beyoncé |
319,996,984 |
15,300,000 |
5,400,000 |
26,700,000 |
367,396,984 |
Music |
| 12 |
Katy Perry |
206,853,190 |
106,785,495 |
7,100,000 |
44,800,000 |
365,538,685 |
Music |
| 13 |
Khloé Kardashian |
310,907,419 |
30,200,000 |
6,200,000 |
704,000 |
348,011,419 |
Influencer |
| 14 |
Kendall Jenner |
294,711,196 |
31,700,000 |
6,100,000 |
285,000 |
332,796,196 |
Influencer |
| 15 |
Jennifer Lopez |
253,650,838 |
44,761,851 |
17,600,000 |
16,600,000 |
332,612,689 |
Music |
| 16 |
Virat Kohli |
266,486,829 |
61,091,254 |
N/A |
n/a |
327,578,083 |
Sport |
| 17 |
Neymar Jr |
219,676,224 |
63,265,287 |
32,100,000 |
4,440,000 |
319,481,511 |
Sport |
| 18 |
Rihanna |
152,230,498 |
108,159,084 |
9,600,000 |
42,700,000 |
312,689,582 |
Music |
| 19 |
Nicki Minaj |
229,345,664 |
28,162,082 |
20,300,000 |
26,600,000 |
304,407,746 |
Music |
| 20 |
Miley Cyrus |
217,012,486 |
46,384,263 |
18,700,000 |
19,000,000 |
301,096,749 |
Music |
| 21 |
Kourtney Kardashian |
224,413,301 |
26,428,379 |
7,300,000 |
N/A |
258,141,680 |
Influencer |
| 22 |
Kevin Hart |
180,287,999 |
36,868,857 |
34,800,000 |
N/A |
251,956,856 |
Entertainment |
| 23 |
Khaby Lame |
79,827,228 |
384,800 |
161,500,000 |
7,340,000 |
249,052,028 |
Content Creator |
| 24 |
Cardi B |
169,210,738 |
33,320,086 |
24,100,000 |
19,200,000 |
245,830,824 |
Music |
| 25 |
Demi Lovato |
157,403,357 |
52,785,567 |
5,800,000 |
18,000,000 |
233,988,924 |
Music |
| 26 |
Shakira |
90,586,379 |
53,660,569 |
38,300,000 |
45,500,000 |
228,046,948 |
Music |
| 27 |
Ellen DeGeneres |
139,741,535 |
74,692,180 |
12,800,000 |
N/A |
227,233,715 |
Entertainment |
| 28 |
Billie Eilish |
110,287,844 |
7,300,000 |
51,000,000 |
49,100,000 |
217,687,844 |
Music |
| 29 |
Lebron James |
159,781,164 |
52,856,615 |
89,200 |
63,400 |
212,790,379 |
Sport |
| 30 |
Charli d’Amelio |
44,900,000 |
5,100,000 |
152,000,000 |
9,130,000 |
211,130,000 |
Influencer |
Data from March 2024.
While some social media influencers have grown organically on one of the different platforms, many of the most popular influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms are offline celebrities first.
As many traditional celebrities grew their popularity decades before social media was around, they’ve successfully transferred their established fame into tangible followers in the online world.
With 14 of the names in the list being primarily singer-songwriters, music-based influencers make up the majority of the top 30 list. However, many of them also have careers outside music. In fact, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato all got their start in acting for Disney or Nickelodeon.
Several Gen Z influencers are also featured in the top 30 who grew up as social media natives, including Charlie D’Amelio, Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson, Billie Eilish and Khaby Lame.
Khaby Lame is particularly interesting as he managed to achieve a stratospheric rise to fame during the COVID pandemic without any brand affiliation. His predominantly silent video content focused on satirical teasing of the overcomplicated life hacks that had become popular on TikTok.
Khaby has since gone on to become a key figure in Hugo Boss’ rebrand and gets paid as much as $750k [paywall] per sponsored post. Impressive for an influencer who is known for saying very little.
Looking at the more straightforward lifestyle influencers, all three Kardashian sisters and both Jenner sisters feature within the top 30. This makes Charli D’Amelio the only top lifestyle influencer who isn’t part of the Kardashian dynasty.
The Top 15 Social Media Influencers By Followers
- Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese athlete (soccer), 732 million followers – Despite only being active on two platforms, his reputation as one of the greatest of all time to play the game has made him an international icon and Instagram’s standout influencer.
- Selena Gomez, American actor/musician, 589 million followers – Evolving from her Disney star roots, she’s grown as both an actress and advocate for mental health and equality to become one of the world’s most influential women.
- Ariana Grande, American musician/actor, 553 million followers – Pop icon with a four-octave vocal range and a considerable back catalog that has seen her listed as an influence by multiple high-profile music artists.
- Kylie Jenner, American influencer/reality TV star, 507 million followers – The most influential social media star from The Kardashians, she’s balanced a range of branded business ventures with life as a socialite.
- Justin Bieber, Canadian musician, 504 million followers – Bieber is arguably the most well-known case of social media stardom. His early R&B covers on YouTube helped net him a record deal back in 2008 after his videos were discovered.
- Leo Messi, Argentinian athlete (soccer), 501 million followers – An Argentinian soccer legend and supposed rival to Ronaldo. He’s also only present on two social media sites, yet has still gathered more than half-a-billion followers.
- Dwayne Johnson, American actor/wrestler, 494 million followers – Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is also one of the highest-paid actors globally and a fitness icon.
- Taylor Swift, American musician, 458 million followers – The current reigning queen of pop, Taylor Swift has become a worldwide sensation with her global tours even influencing local economies.
- Kim Kardashian, American influencer/reality TV star, 450 million followers – As one of the first people to be famous for being famous, Kim K successfully brought her socialite stardom into the social media sphere.
- MrBeast, American content creator, 412 million followers – The most influential YouTube creator has now cracked the top 10 social media influencers overall, with each of his challenges and giveaway videos being watched by tens of millions.
- Beyoncé, American musician, 367 million followers – One of the best-selling music artists of all time with a wide range of accolades, Beyoncé has also been dubbed ‘Queen Bey’ by her massive fanbase – ‘The BeyHive’.
- Katy Perry, American musician, 365 million followers – With a huge following on X and the most diamond-certified singles of any female artist, Katy Perry has had a big impact on modern pop music since the late 2000s.
- Khloe Kardashian, American influencer/reality TV star, 348 million followers – The youngest of the Kardashian sisters, she’s worked alongside her family to promote various products via their reality TV shows and social followings.
- Kendall Jenner, American influencer/reality TV star, 332 million followers – The highest-paid supermodel and another Kardashians family member, Kendall started her modeling career at 13 and has walked her way into influential international model status.
- Jennifer Lopez, American actress/musician, 332 million followers – Also known as ‘J.Lo’, she’s helped to increase the representation of Latino Americans in entertainment throughout her award-winning career spanning over five decades.
How To Use Social Media Influencers To Market Your Brand
The world now collectively spends 11.5 billion hours a day on social media platforms, with each average user contributing almost two-and-a-half hours.
That gives social media influencers a lot of time every day to connect with their audience. But it also means there’s plenty of potential for brands to work with influencers and capitalize on that time.
Many social media users now rely on influencers, reviewers, or established voices within a niche before making decisions. For TikTok, 65% of users say they rely on content creators and online reviewers to help them make decisions before buying a product.
Rather than promoting your own brand channel organically, you can leverage social media influencers by having them endorse your products or services. It has also been found that trust can be transferred from an influencer to a brand when influencer marketing is done well.
The top influencers also know how powerful it can be. Many have launched their own products to market within their content to capitalize on the benefits themselves. For example, MrBeast’s Feastables brought in 70% of his revenue in its second year.
Find An Influencer Within Your Budget
As a general rule – the bigger the influencer, the more they’ll want in return for a post. Smaller influencers might be satisfied with receiving your products for free, but influencers with large followings will almost certainly charge a fee.
Paid content will also be explicitly highlighted on some platforms, such as the ‘paid partnership’ label appearing on Instagram.
This came about after the Fyre Festival incident where some influencers were found to be promoting the festival as a personal recommendation when they were, in fact, paid to post about it.
Choose An Influencer That’s Relevant To Your Business
Practically all influencers have built their following within a certain niche. It’s important that you work with an influencer that feels like they would naturally align with your brand and has a similar target audience to your own.
A fashion influencer talking about the benefits of a new line of skin care products would feel on-brand. If they were to be promoting power tools or something similarly out of place, then it wouldn’t resonate with their audience.
This will likely result in fewer conversions for the partnered business, as well as the audience of that influencer becoming more distrustful of paid sponsorships.
Let An Influencer Promote Your Business Authentically
Social media influencers have built their personal brands through the content they make. Their audience will be familiar with how they talk and put themselves forward.
When working with an influencer, it’s important to make sure any messaging meshes with how that influencer communicates. That authenticity is what will connect with their audience and feel less like something they’re doing just to get paid.
If you have them stick to a rigid script, then you lose what makes an influencer unique – their personality and their audience.
Influencers Can Extend Their Trust And Influence To Your Brand
We live in a world with more influencers and celebrities than ever before. While many have now achieved the one million follower milestone, the top social media influencers possess almost unbelievably big followings.
Considering Charli D’Amelio became the first person to reach 50 million followers on TikTok in April 2020, and then the first to reach 100 million just seven months later, it’s clear that influencers like her are growing exponentially.
That’s part of the reason influencer marketing is now growing in popularity. When executed well with the right influencers on board, you can raise the profile of your brand at an accelerated rate.
Not only can it introduce you to a brand-new audience, but it can potentially convert those who’ve seen your brand before but needed some extra reassurance.
If you’re unsure about working with influencers, you can always start with a nano influencer on a small, targeted campaign to establish whether it works for your business.
Methodology
To create the top 50 social media influencers worldwide list, we took the top 100 accounts from each platform based on their follower or subscriber count (Source: SocialBlade.com, Youtube, X, Instagram, TikTok).
We compiled all influencer names across these lists and created a total number of followers/subscribers across all platforms.
These numbers were collected by hand directly from the social media platforms as a rounded figure, or taken from Socialblade.com for a live count.
The list was then reordered based on total follower counts to find the top 30 social media influencers.
More resources:
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
